Wednesday, December 28, 2011

Unfortunate Bad Ends

alrighttt, with almost visits to many, many different outlets of CC the last few days, I've now been able to get most of the earlier volumes of HnG and that would finally complete my collection. Hadn't intended to get the collection complete so fast but the offer was just *slap!* right on time! Am still currently lacking 5 volumes which about 3 of them are from the Taiwan publisher so that'll have to wait since they ain't cheap. Missing out on volumes 1 and 2 as well, just couldn't find them anywhere D: Picked up a special limited edition volume 28 with the cover art of the movie by Hata and of course a piece of original illustration of the movie. It was said on the envelope that it was the 3rd original illustration that comes with a volume of manga, so I guess I've missed out on the other 2. There was Maria's one as the 2nd illustration, not sure about the 1st, but oh well, I should be getting future volumes of HnG from Kinokuniya bookstores instead since the special stuffs are generally there 1st. So looking back, I now have 2 of volume 28. A normal cover with Ruka and the special cover. Seems like I am sinking rather deep into HnG's fanbase... but... I riek :D

since its the end of the year, got to do some junk clearing and rearranging so currently my shelf is gonna undergo some changes for HnG volumes so I'll post something up in the next entry.

now a couple of series has ended in light of the incoming new season, but unfortunately, the endings that were shown were rather disappointing. Well that's what I saw for 2 of the series this season. It could pave the way for a second season but a standalone series by itself, the ending that was given was just clearly disappointing.

without further ado, the targets are shown below:

C³ - CubexCursedxCurious



I had initially dropped this series out of the league after watching its preview which was clearly a fanservice promo, but had later picked it up after seeing another PV and their 2nd episode that was surprising. A normal little harem series turned into a rather violent one with bloody fight scenes here and there was indeed shocking and that was perhaps the spur I got to follow this series.

So the story basically follows the Haruaki family, where they are in charge of handling cursed objects which some of them takes the form of a human. One of the cursed objects is a girl, Fear in Cube, is one of the most fearsome cursed object and is able to use many different torture equipments by materialising them out of her black cube. In order to remove the curse of killing many innocent people, she arrives at the Haruaki household to perform good deeds instead but is soon caught in many incidents revolving her and other cursed objects.

Many small arcs occur here and there with more and more cursed objects being introduced. Plot wise it was quite an interesting series to follow, story development wise it was a little bland. Fear is one of the main protagonist but the way she acts and speaks is a little too cliché. Not sure if it was the correct word to use here but the way she puts forth her actions like believing her friend was an enemy and then realises her misunderstanding and apologises, all those happen just too quickly and it seemed "unreal". Nonetheless the action scenes were rather good, would appreciate more if Fear could actually show more of her hidden equipments, and of course less fanservice. Meaningless fanservice is seen to run rampant in this series. When I mean rampant, I mean everywhere. It just spoils the series. Perhaps the novel itself was similar in this way but watching it just makes me go facepalm: "not again?! .____."

Leaving that aside, the story itself was progressing rather well where more things are revealed, such as a hidden organisation and the Intelligent Disk that is related to cursed objects but then, it just ended with the enemy retreated, no news about what happened after that, nothing revealed about the Intelligent Disk, no hint that Fear was relieved of her curse, nothing. Worst of all, I didn't even know it had ended until I checked the episode number on another site that I finally realised that what I had just watched was the end of the 3 month series that I had followed. WOW. just WOW. Never had I experience watching an end of a series without actually realising that it was the end. Maybe I was simply too nonchalant on this series since I had to deter myself from all the FS that they show, but their last episode really did seem like a standalone episode.

I wouldn't be sure if I would continue watching this if there was a 2nd season, but I don't think this series was highly considered to be good so I guess if you would wish to watch some rather awesome action scenes and do not mind the FS, this series would be good to go.

Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai


I had very high expectations for this. Like VERY, but the last episode was just ARGH. WHAT WAS THAT?!

honestly I would think that this is a good series. The comedy level is there, the FS they have is acceptable, plot wise was good as well, but the last few developments were disappointing. I was definitely expecting more developments between the 2 main protagonist but it all seem to be concluded with just one episode.

The series consists of a blonde hair protagonist Kodaka who because of his scary appearance, is unable to make any friends in his new school since everyone appears to be afraid of him. His only best friend was only with him when he was young and before moving house, but had lost touch with "him" after he had moved. The other female protagonist is Yozora, who is actually quite bullying in nature but is always quiet and thus, have no friends as well. One day Kodaka sees Yozora in the classroom alone and discovers that she was actually talking to herself. With some conversation, Yozora obtained the idea of starting her own club by herself to make friends and forms the Neighbour Club which aims for the members to make friends. It was later revealed that Kodaka's best friend was actually Yozora but he had mistaken her to be a guy when they were playing together as kids and both were given nicknames which they use for each other, Taka for Kodaka, and Sora for Yozora. More members started to join the Neighbour Club with the same goal and with all their different perky personalities, everyday seemed to be enjoyable in the Neighbour Club until Yozora got a bit jealous of how another female protagonist, Sena, was rather close to Kodaka, when she was actually the closest to him when they were best friends. Yozora later trims her hair short in the later part of the series, which makes Kodaka remembers her as Sora and with the Neighbour Club back to normal as Yozora didn't want to reveal their friendship to the others, the series ends on a light note.

It was a good comedy series to begin with, with the rather hilarious antics that each of the character shows. Some of the characters were rather annoying, like Sister Maria, but most of the others were rather lovable. FS were used too in the series, but it wasn't that bad as it seemed to be. When the Taka and Sora story started to kick in, the story seems to have headed to a better arc, or so I would hope, which obviously didn't. I was really expecting the truth to be out in one or two more episodes after Yozora overheard Kodaka mumbling something that they knew while they were kids, but it all dissolved after that and the truth was only out in the 2nd last episode. This all heads down to the final episode to conclude the Taka and Sora dilemma, which felt that it was lacking and there should be something more to it. I do not mind the comedy side of the series as it was rather good, but there could be much better story development starting with the reconciled friendship between the two. Watching the series past the halfway mark, I was already hoping for one of the members of the Neighbour Club to acknowledge the fact that if they wanted to make friends, they are already a group of friends. But it seems that no one acknowledges that rather obvious fact even till the very end. It was vexing to see them talking like they still have no friends when what was in front of them was the answer that they wanted. The conclusion didn't feel much like a conclusion unless it was meant for the truth to be out for both Kodaka and Yozora, it was alright I guess, but it definitely could be better IMO, if that was actually developed into the series as well or that the others discover about their secret as well. More materials could have been covered but I guess this does pave the way for a second season which I doubt would happen.

Overall, this was a good series but the ending was simply disappointing. Guess I shouldn't keep my expectations high...

Addictive song :)
World's End Dancehall from Wowaka
lyrics in video!

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